This time I created a Wordle of ART: Evaluating Research Project Assignments and saved it from Jing to my documents (instead of using the embed code).  Now I’m going to upload it as an image and see how it works…ah, it worked!  and if you click on the image you can see it larger.

Here is the wordle for my blog . . .

First, I went to TeacherTube and copied the URL of the video.  Then I clicked on the Video Icon in the Visual Editor of my post, pasted the URL, and gave it a title — wah-lah . . .

CPHS: Student Stories

Now I am going to embed the same video using the code TeacherTube provides.  If it works, obviously this second option is better because the video will be directly in the post rather than yet another click away.

So, now I’m going to click over to the HTML editor, paste the code below, and click publish:

Edit:  I tried this a couple of times and it didn’t work.  I’ll try again later.  For now, click on the link near the top of the post to see the video.

Well, most of the time . . . lately I’ve had to go in and play with the code to get pbwiki to do what I want.  And now it turns out that we have to use the HTML tab in Edublogs to embed things like videos and such. (Before you get confused, the “Add media” icons in the Visual Editor are for things downloaded to your computer or at a URL — not for things with code.)

The good part about this is that it sounds like you can embed almost anything.  The bad news is that you have to toggle back and forth between the “Visual” tab in the Editor and the “HTML” tab in the Editor.

For details see The (wonderful) Edublogger’s post about this.  Quick and dirty:  If you want to add an Animoto video or a GooglePresentation or anything with code . . .

• Write everything you want in your post using the Visual Editor first
• When everything is done EXCEPT adding the code, click on the HTML tab
• Find the place in the your post where you want to add the code
• Copy the code from wherever it is and paste it into the HTML Editor
• DO NOT CLICK BACK TO THE THE VISUAL EDITOR OR DO ANYTHING ELSE
• Just click “Publish” and wait for it to be done publishing.  When you go to “Visit Site,” your video (or whatever) should be there looking pretty

I just tried it with some GooglePresentations (post) and Animoto Videos (post) and it worked well.  One thing to be aware of — the next time I went to write a post the Editor was still in the HTML tab, so you may have to make sure that you are in the Visual tab every time. (I’m not sure, but it did that even though I have the Visual Editor set as my default.)

So, don’t be HTML-phobic — it is easy!  After all, it is really only copying and pasting, and we do that all the time anyway.

Plus, the blog provided by Edublogs (theEdublogger) is great!

While I haven’t started to use the networking capabilities, I see their potential.  How many times do you email links to coworkers?  Steps could be eliminated by establishing a network and common tags.  Steps are also eliminated by just sharing a bookmark (i.e. since I just blogged about wikis, check out my bookmarks: http://del.icio.us/kareneidem/Wikis

One of the bloggers I subscribe to has started using the “Daily Blog Postings” function — I can quickly scan what this “expert-in-the-field” thought was important enough to bookmark, and it can lead to some good, new information.

I think this was one of the more interesting “Things” for me when I started learning about it I had such a misconception about its purpose.  To quote a couple of songs from the 60’s and 70’s — “I can see clearly now” and “I’m a believer.”

“Wiki Wiki” = Quick.  And that has been my experience with wikis — they are quick to set up and use.  I remember someone asking, “Sooo, it’s basically just a website, right?” and I’d say yes — a basic website that anyone with access can edit.  Again, I think this goes back to the book “Wisdom of Crowds” — there are a lot of people out there with a lot of good thoughts and information on a multitude of topics.  Isn’t it a good idea to have places for them to share their information?  And then isn’t it a good idea that other people can either verify or change that information?

We’ve talked about multiple uses for these at MILI — handbooks, curriculum organizers, student project organizers, book reviews, school websites . . . the options are nearly endless.  I really like the examples that are given throughout pbwiki.

Here are wikis I’ve made or helped to make:

http://milicopyrightwiki.pbwiki.com/  (password: mili)

http://kareneidemslibrarymediacenterhandbook.pbwiki.com/  (when I showed this to an MLIS class, the instructor said that she had a paradigm shift seeing a handbook online instead of as paper in a binder.  Currently, I would be the only one to edit this, but if I were to have one at a job, and leave that job, my replacement would have everything at his or her fingertips and be able to change it easily.)